Our guinea pig just had 2 babys HELP?

Question
She must of had them this morning.My daughter fed her this morning and she said she didn't see anything. And to night she has 2 I'm scared to touch them there eyes are open and staying close to her. What do I do now? Can I touch them, clean her cage? I don't know what to do.

Answer
Hello Regina,

It's ok. You are through the hardest part. Yes, you may touch them and clean the cage. Limit handling to no more than 5 minutes at a time for the first week or 2. They need to nurse often to be healthy. Try not to disturb them when they are eating or sleeping, but other than that, they can be handled without any problems. Make sure mom and pups have plenty of food. The pups will start munching on mom's food within hours of their birth but they still need to nurse until they are 3 weeks old. At 3 weeks, the males need to be seperated from the all of the females as they are beginning to reach sexual maturity. The girls can stay with Mom or they can be seperated from her too. I'll include a link for gender identification in case you need it. They'll be ready for new homes (if you plan to find them new homes) at around 7 weeks. Baby piggies and nursing moms should have alphalpha hay instead of timothy. Make sure Mom's needs are met and she'll take care of the pups. When they are weaned, the care is basically the same as it is for adults except keep them on alphalpha until they are around 5 or 6 months old. Mom can go back to timothy (or bermuda, or orchard, or whatever grass hay you are currently using) after the pups are weaned. Just relax and enjoy your new little babies and congratulations.

http://cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs